Muscat – Over 45,000 visitors have so far attended the ongoing FIFA World Cup fiesta at the Football Fan Festival (FFF) in the Oman Convention and Exhibition Centre (OCEC), an official said.

While matches of Brazil, Argentina, Portugal, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Tunisia drew the maximum crowd, other matches too generated enough excitement for the fans to gather there, said Lyutha Alhabsy, Brand and Marketing advisor at OMRAN.

Five giant screens – with Arabic and English commentary – have been live-streaming the matches in a 90,000sqft arena. At the FFF venue, the space has been divided into several zones, each catering to one core aspect of the celebrations, including dining facilities, fun activities and live-streaming. Lucky draws at the end of each day added more excitements to the funfair, she claimed.

Speaking about the FFF, Lyutha said, “This is a world class facility that we are having here where fans get access to all matches along with 18 free activities and great food.”

“This is the first time ever that we are organising such an event and we are amazed by the response. As the event progresses, we expect the number of fans visiting the festival to increase,” she further said, adding that women fans have been equally excited and thrilled during the matches; women of all ages and nationalities can be seen in the amphitheatre.

“Many women came decked up in their favourite teams jerseys and flag paints on their faces. The FFF has also seen children’s engagement to the maximum. There are games on football that have kept them excited and among the many the Virtual Reality on Heading the Ball is one of the favourites.”

There are 180 volunteers working day and night to make the event a success. Ninety SMEs are directly and indirectly involved in this festival, which one can access buying a ticket (RO2) through www.footballfanfestival.om.